10 strange things your body cannot avoid explains the body working parts and how healthcare consultants help you maintain them. While you, the owner of the body, keep up the maintenance and hope nothing goes wrong, something always does. Read 10 strange things your body cannot avoid while living in this odd body.
Twitches
Uncontrollable twitches of an eye, a thigh, or a thumb are little jumps under the skin, called fasciculations. Though not well understood, they result from nerve abnormalities, which in turn trigger a response in muscle groups linked to that nerve. According to experts, fasciculations can be triggered by caffeine intake, stress, lack of sleep and even by healthy exercise. You can get a twitch just about anywhere you have a muscle, and it is not uncommon to feel them, and see them, in a calf, in the small muscle between the thumb and forefinger, or in the tongue.
Sleep starts
One moment, you are drifting off into a blissful sleep, and the next minute, you are dropping off a cliff, and you wake up with a start. Sleep experts believe the brain sometimes gets the wrong message from the body during the transition into sleep, and links the lack of muscle tension with being in midair. The loss of muscle tone is sometimes accompanied by the feeling of falling at sleep onset. Therefore, a sudden jerking of arms and legs is an attempt to save oneself from falling.
Earwax
Skin inside the ear is lined with cerumen glands, which are similar to sweat glands except that they excrete wax. The wax coats the walls of the ear canal and traps dirt on the way. The wax usually works its way out of the ear naturally, taking the trapped dirt along with it, but sometimes it builds up. There are several home remedies and wax-irrigation products, but if your problem is getting sticky, consult a doctor.
Funny bone
The funny bone is not a bone, but the ulnar nerve that runs along the humerus bone in your elbow. Hitting this area causes a sharp pain and numbness which travels from your neck down to your fingers. If the pain or numbness lasts for more than a few days, it is recommended to see a doctor.
Toe cheese
Toe cheese is named for both its fetid smell and the white, cakey paste reminiscent of crumbled cheese. If the odour is very similar to the aroma of food you have been served, you should:
a) wash your feet thoroughly and scrub between toes, and
b) seek other places to dine.
The white colour is due to sock lint, which combines with dead skin, dirt, and bacteria. Black, blue and other sock-colored cheeses are common among people who dress a little nicer.
Hiccups
Spasms of the diaphragm cause hiccups, and like other spasms, they are impossible to turn on voluntarily and troublesome to turn off. The diaphragm is the muscle at the base of the lungs, and a spasm causes a sharp intake of air. The characteristic sound is the glottis (the opening between the vocal cords) closing reflexively. All this can make it difficult to eat, talk, sleep, or sneak up on anyone. A popular home remedy is to drink water or hold your breath.
Shivers and chatters
Just like rubbing two sticks together creates friction and fire, the body shakes to generate more heat. Shivering hands, trembling legs and chattering teeth are all localised reactions to the body’s attempt at raising the temperature. Shivers are a common symptom of the flu. Raising body temperature helps mobilise the antibodies that fight infections and viruses, which is why the body also creates a fever.
Causes Of Sinusitis And Natural Ways To Relieve Pain
Brain freeze
No one understands exactly why you experience acute (though short-lived) brain pain from swallowing something too cold too quickly. In truth, the sensation is around your sinuses and face; there are no pain receptors in the brain, so you can’t feel pain there. According to a headache expert, the ice headache may be due to chilling the trigeminal nerve, which is located near the back of the mouth and is responsible for all sensations to the head and face.
So we can speculate that anything that stimulates the face or other areas of the trigeminal nerve—dental work, getting hit in the head or face, or maybe drinking something too cold and stimulating the trigeminal nerve through the throat—all can be a potential trigger.
Jumping when startled
Your body prepares to deal with a threat in several ways before the brain even has time to assess the situation. When surprised, we instantly distance ourselves by jumping away and facing the threat. Muscles stiffen, and we steady our feet in a fighting stance; adrenaline surges, increasing our strength, speed and heart rate. Other reactions to sudden fear or surprise include widening of the eyes, clenching of the fists and jaw and, in men, the retreat of genitalia, kind of a “first things first” response.
Hair standing on end
Each hair on your body is held in place by a follicle, which is like a tiny tube in the skin. Sometimes, in response to fear, cold or even a light touch, muscle fibres connected to the follicle contract and cause the follicle to stiffen. This makes the hair in there stand up straight. Now imagine hundreds of those little follicles standing up straight, and what do you have? Goose bumps. This body peculiarity is a factor in the fight-or-flight response.
